Hi all, just after a bit of help.

I'm trying to reset my laptop. It is a fair few years old now and has been through the ringer, a fair few times it has hit the wall and I have managed to fix it by myself, but this one seems beyond my capabilities. 

This issue has been going on a while but I'm only just getting round to it since I finally have some free time. When I turn my laptop on, It makes the noise as if it is loading, but I just get a black screen (it is still backlit but nothing ever appears).

I have tried the Novo one button reset, which actually brought up a screen for the first time in lord knows how long. 

However, no matter what option I choose, it then goes back to a black screen. 

 

Anybody with any ideas at all on how to fix it or what's wrong? I was using it as a media server for Plex before it left so there were a lot of files on there that may have corrupted if that helps diagnose it at all?

 

Thanks in advance

1 hour ago, OldManGravz said:

Hi all, just after a bit of help.

I'm trying to reset my laptop. It is a fair few years old now and has been through the ringer, a fair few times it has hit the wall and I have managed to fix it by myself, but this one seems beyond my capabilities. 

This issue has been going on a while but I'm only just getting round to it since I finally have some free time. When I turn my laptop on, It makes the noise as if it is loading, but I just get a black screen (it is still backlit but nothing ever appears).

I have tried the Novo one button reset, which actually brought up a screen for the first time in lord knows how long. 

However, no matter what option I choose, it then goes back to a black screen. 

 

Anybody with any ideas at all on how to fix it or what's wrong? I was using it as a media server for Plex before it left so there were a lot of files on there that may have corrupted if that helps diagnose it at all?

 

Thanks in advance

It could be a number of things to be honest, have you tried connecting it to an external monitor or a TV first and then booting it up? If it works fine on an external source then you have a screen issue. 

If it doesn't work on an external source then it's probably a corrupt system file causing it. The easiest way to fix that would be to wipe the hard drive and reinstall your operating system (you should have a CD-ROM or USB stick that came with the laptop in order to do this. Connect your laptop to a TV or monitor first though so you can see what you're doing!)

If that still doesn't work and you can't get a display on the laptop AND an external source, the graphics card could be shot, or the motherboard could be faulty, there could be a CMOS issue, etc etc.

Edited March 28, 20205 yr by Denzel Zanzibar

1 hour ago, Denzel Zanzibar said:

It could be a number of things to be honest, have you tried connecting it to an external monitor or a TV first and then booting it up? If it works fine on an external source then you have a screen issue. 

If it doesn't work on an external source then it's probably a corrupt system file causing it. The easiest way to fix that would be to wipe the hard drive and reinstall your operating system (you should have a CD-ROM or USB stick that came with the laptop in order to do this. Connect your laptop to a TV or monitor first though so you can see what you're doing!)

If that still doesn't work and you can't get a display on the laptop AND an external source, the graphics card could be shot, or the motherboard could be faulty, there could be a CMOS issue, etc etc.

Thanks DZ. I have been on at this a few hours now. If I click on system restore and leave it long enough, the Lenovo loading screen that used to come on straight away eventually loads up after about 10 mins.

However this eventually goes off and is shortly replaced by a blue screen that has a sad face on saying something went wrong and that it is restarting.

After it restarts, leaving it for any length of time doesn't bring it back on.

So I think it is not the screen that is at fault! However that is as far as I have gotten.

I dont actually have the restart discs (laptop is about 6/7 years old and has survived a few house moves but the discs unfortunately have not). I have emailed Lenovo customer services to see if they can help me with these but no reply as of yet (I understand they will probably be running a skeleton staff or working from home, if at all).

I really should just bite the bullet and get a new one but I have only just started a new job so want to get through my probation period before I start spending my wages/savings on something that I'm not in immediate need of straight away

Yeah that sounds like a corrupted hard drive to me. If Lenovo can't provide you with the software to reinstall Windows (i'm assuming you were using Windows 7 or 8 if it's that old) then you should be able to create one yourself with a USB stick and files on the internet, just search Windows *whatever* boot disc

I don't know if this will help but the screen needs cleaning.

23 minutes ago, Changing Times said:

I don't know if this will help but the screen needs cleaning.

Definitely does, it's seen better days! However pointless if I can't get it to work.

Update: I installed the Windows 8 iso on a flash drive and plugged it into the laptop to boot up, but it doesn't appear to be working. Still trying to boot up from the HDD instead and ignoring the USB.

 

I am still looking for a CD Boot up disc but I'm not even sure if that will work now 

1 hour ago, OldManGravz said:

Update: I installed the Windows 8 iso on a flash drive and plugged it into the laptop to boot up, but it doesn't appear to be working. Still trying to boot up from the HDD instead and ignoring the USB.

 

I am still looking for a CD Boot up disc but I'm not even sure if that will work now 

What do you mean by you installed the Win8 iso onto a flash drive? The iso is meant to be burned to a DVD-rom. 

It should be an executable file for a flash drive.

Edited March 29, 20205 yr by Denzel Zanzibar

1 hour ago, Denzel Zanzibar said:

What do you mean by you installed the Win8 iso onto a flash drive? The iso is meant to be burned to a DVD-rom. 

It should be an executable file for a flash drive.

I looked on Windows website and it gave me an iso file to download, I just assumed it would work off a flash drive haha

10 hours ago, OldManGravz said:

I looked on Windows website and it gave me an iso file to download, I just assumed it would work off a flash drive haha

Okay next question, and please don't be offended - Do you know how to burn an iso file onto a disc?

3 hours ago, Denzel Zanzibar said:

Okay next question, and please don't be offended - Do you know how to burn an iso file onto a disc?

No it's fine mate, I understand people are at varying levels of ability and you have to ask.

I can burn an iso to a disc, unfortunately the only computer in the house with an optical drive is the broken one haha! 

I used the wrong language when I said I installed it onto the flash drive, I merely copied it over in the hope it worked. Seems a bit silly now but I was on the beer yesterday